Life Of A Secret Agent
by Tinkering
Summary: Daily life on Leif Street is interrupted only by the dulcet tone of Naruto screaming at 7 in the morning...and the occasional sound of gunfire. (Narusuke: WIP, MM, warnings for UST and all related situations!)
1. Chapter 1

Life Of A Secret Agent

Prologue

He blanked out when he was in the field. Honestly sometimes he didn't remember the gunfights or extractions, he would only come back to himself as they re-entered his neighborhood of Leif Street and he perked up at the thought of what he referred to as his _real_ life.

His hands were calm, forefinger caressing the trigger of a borrowed weapon. He had run out of clips for his beloved about ten minutes ago. The agent leaned from behind his cover and was almost immediately greeted by the spit-spitting of a machine gun coughing and bullets slapping almost simultaneously against the shipping container he was huddled against.

He spoke quietly into his hidden mic asking for extraction in ten. He would have the room cleared by then.

'Three, two…' He leapt out and pulled on the trigger twice in quick succession in the direction of the man directly targeting him. Before he dropped into a roll behind a crate – horrible choice of protection by the way, he saw the man go down machine gun firing wildly as he pressed at his chest.

If anyone else wanted to come up this walkway they would have to walk right toward him…unfortunately, he was bluffing on three bullets. And he believed in double tapping.

'Note to self, seven is my new favourite number. Seven magazines.' Five wasn't cutting it anymore.

Staying in a crouch he began to edge into the open, hoping to make it to the man he had taken down. He was halfway there when gunfire from behind him sent him jumping for cover while he got clipped on the shoulder. He ended his barrel roll with a hiss, clutching his covered bicep.

Turning from the corner he was in between a container and forklift, the man pushed out his gun and let out the last three shots before tossing it and grabbing the one from the man he'd downed. His weapon was still snugly tucked against the small of his back and what wouldn't he do for a clip for it right now…

"This is painful to watch." The lights went up on the training room and the much abused man turned with a heated glare at his partner before sighing and stood.

"Thank you for another wonderful training session. No really, I love being made to run three hours on a tread mill, then doing a back breaking obstacle course, before being told there's a gunfight simulation…" Pulling off his helmet the agent smiled cuttingly at his partner before helping up the man on the ground near him.

"You alright?" The tall trench-coated man walked past the leaving agents who had assisted in the simulation to get to Naruto's side.

"Yeah, those things just sting like hell." He watched the other three in the room following tearing off gear as they went. When it was him and his trainer/partner left the young man turned to him.

"I'm sorry but headquarters ordered it. You've had a quiet few weeks – they want to keep you near battle ready…always." Waving it off, he started to strip, examining the 'wounds' on his clothing. They should be happy. In a gunfight under these condition with four men outgunning him, to only get clipped once wasn't too shabby…though he _had_ wasted a ton of his own pellets in the process.

"Nice shot on Marcus by the way. I thought you were going to let him creep all the way up on you." Giving the man a disbelieving look he continued to strip, down to his vest and boxers before going into some loosening up exercises.

Eventually he spoke between breaths. "There's a reason for this isn't there. And you don't want to tell me."

He couldn't see through the dark shades as his partner looked away from him with a half-shrug. "You'll find out soon enough. There's an operation…in your area. We're still trying to hunt down that guy we chased from San Francisco. We think he's moved…here."

"To L.A? Seriously?" He looked up from a deep side lunge, brows furrowed.

"They may call – " The man on the floor interrupted briskly.

"On vacation. Furthermore I'm not working in my own state. I've told them that." He stood, cracked his neck and smirked. "It's the only rule I made for myself and they can't make me. Or their best agent might start going…" He made a see-saw motion with his hand before waving it negligibly.

"I'm going to hop in the showers before going home. Keep me up to date." And with that the DHS' best agent swaggered out.

* * *

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter One

Sasuke liked to wake naturally. His alarm clock would ring, he would punch it, it would ring again, he would punch it…the fifth time he rolled over to punch it he would groan and finally pull himself out of bed, cursing the sturdy old fashioned thing. But that was the reason why he had bought it and this _was_ the ritual…

However, this morning…

For some reason his eyes had opened slowly, blinking at his ceiling. He didn't know what had woken him but he just felt…something, was about to –

Put, put, put! There went the neighbor's sprinklers. Seven-twenty five…? He had missed out on an extra five minutes… "KIIIIBBAAAA! YOU DOG-FACED -!"

A dangerously dark look clouded Sasuke's face as he pulled himself out of bed and toward the bedroom window that looked out to the suburban street of Leif. Pushing the window up violently Sasuke looked out, seriously considering yelling at his moronic neighbor, when the sight stopped him short.

Blinking rapidly and slapping down a twitch at the mouth, Sasuke watched with slightly better temper as his apparently drunk neighbor crawled across his well-manicured lawn on hands and knees to escape his own sprinkler system. Every time he tried to stand he wobbled to the side from his crouch and eventually he gave up, sitting in the direct spray in front of the evergreen hedge.

Sasuke shook his head at the indecency of it all. Waking people at this ungodly hour of the morning… not to mention he looked like he had been at a bar or club getting well tossed over the night before. He was currently ruining a really nice pair of leather pants… the royal blue shirt wasn't bad either though the shiny silk material would be too flashy for him personally. It suited the blonde idiot perfectly however.

Not that he was looking.

"HEY BASTARD! LIKE THE VIEW?!" Sasuke flinched infinitesimally and met the eyes of his hung-over and unruly neighbor. Did he mention they didn't get along?

He didn't shout – Uchihas didn't shout out windows, as he replied. "I think the whole neighborhood is, dead last."

Here Sasuke was with his nice job, good neighborhood, fair to partly psychotic family and this blonde haired, blue-eyed ignoramus who was a damned sports caster, apparently was doing well enough to get a home in this neighborhood, get drunk almost daily and destroy the quiet, secluded suburban dream.

He was treated to the usual sparkling defiance in those eyes, somewhat bleary right now, as his neighbor childishly pulled a face and turned ass to him to continue his directionally-challenged crawl to his front steps.

Sasuke refused to watch Naruto's butt as he scuttled across his lawn and pulled his head back inside his own house. Shutting the window he stood still, almost thoughtlessly for a moment before shaking his head. Breakfast sounded good right now.

As a VP to Uchiha Corporation he wasn't needed at the office at nine like everyone else, but Sasuke liked the idea of being a good boss – even if he wasn't liked. There was no better example than a director of Sales and Marketing that showed up early, worked the long hours with everyone else and motivated them with 'friendly', old-fashioned competition.

Putting on the coffee pot to brew, Sasuke turned on the morning news, inhaled a bowl of cereal while watching the stock market and ate a tomato while pouring a cup of the necessary morning beverage. Nursing the cup appreciatively, it _was_ the good stuff, Sasuke pulled on his house robe tighter before opening his front door to get the morning paper.

'Halfway down the walk again? Jeez…' Either this neighborhood's paperboy was a really bad pitcher or one of the stalkers in the neighborhood was moving his paper again to get him out the door. Placing an irritated scowl on his previously neutral face, Sasuke strode swiftly, bent for the paper and turned back around for his house's waiting sanctuary.

"Don't you give the housewives on this block enough of a show when you jog every afternoon Uchiha?"

He tried to repress the rigidity that entered his frame at the voice but couldn't help the soundless growl as he turned to his neighbor's walk again. He scanned the blonde man taking out his garbage and decided once more that yes, he hated him. With a passion.

Uzumaki was nothing – a lucky orphan. Unusual and adopted by some middle-aged schoolteacher, he had got some breaks on mediocre talent and landed a job at a high status news station as a sports caster. That wasn't so much the big whoop. Neither was the really nice, almost mint condition, god-awfully bright yellow Mustang (though Sasuke was a _little_ jealous) nor the house in this neighborhood either. No – no, what really got Sasuke…

A tan hand ruffled sun-gold locks carelessly and the buffoon _smiled_ at him, even as Sasuke's glare deepened. A casual blue and white striped polo and slacks that accentuated a naturally graceful body hung effortlessly on his no longer drink-induced, swaying frame. The man had this unnatural, 'god, dear he say it!' beauty, about him… Clear, guileless blue eyes and naturally lying locks unlike his own bed-head look…

"Take a picture – it'll last longer." Naruto drawled, preening. He wanted nothing more than to shoot the blonde with his home protection and call it self-defense.

"I marvel almost daily at how you come home so drunk and leave for work two hours later looking like you had a full night's sleep." Sasuke said deadpan, looking back to his house. And that was it. Because…Sasuke, well…Sasuke couldn't really handle his liquor.

He knew he was brilliant, 'it's not bragging if it's true' and he _had_ a better car and home – not to mention the females loved his looks. But no, it was the alcohol he couldn't compete with Uzumaki on…a memory brought on an internal shudder.

There was silence for a moment as the blonde stared and Sasuke had almost pictured how he could pull it off… take something of his to lure the blonde over, no one would know… when he entered Sasuke could just pull the gun and…

"Wow. That actually sounded like you meant that!" Wide sweeping gestures and that insane grin were the trademarks by which Naruto was known. "Ya know, if you envy my drinking skills you should join me and my friend Kiba. Duuude, I swear he could drink ME under a table. As for the secret to my metabolism," Here the blonde gave a loud, raucous laugh. "Good genetics! For you I guess it was a case of good looks, bad liver!"

And that was why they didn't get along. He couldn't stand imbeciles. Sasuke turned ice-bastard and continued his broken stride to his front door, ignoring the idiot's confused call behind him. He gave him one last look once he was in his doorway, frowning deeply and shut the door.

"…and I don't drink EVERY night!"

* * *

Hi, so. It's been a while. Some of you may be wanting to talk...

If anyone has any queries or thoughts they want to shoot me, please PM. Keep the review box for the reviews guys.

Lastly, I'm looking for a beta, so PM regarding that too if you're interested.

Thanks guys and...on with the show!


	2. Chapter 2

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter Two

Was it telling that he cared what that bastard thought? Naruto pouted visibly as the front door didn't open after his shout and remembered the garbage bag in his hand, dumping it at the curb before marching back inside and slamming his door.

He supposed he should call Kiba and tell him off for leaving him outside on his lawn for the sprinklers to get him this morning – while thanking him for the night out… but he was more preoccupied with the guy next door.

It wasn't like he hadn't tried to be friendly when he first moved in, but Sasuke _Uchiha_ thought he was better than everyone else. Especially him, who Naruto knew he thought was just a fool.

'If only he knew how _lucky_ I really am.' With a mental snort he set about clearing the kitchen, making sure the rest of the house was cleaned, put some food in the bowl outside the front door for his adopted stray cat Freud and headed back out the door to head in to work. Casting a slightly regretful look at the house next door, Naruto hopped into his car and revved the engine purposefully before peeling off to work.

While he drove he thought. About the time eight months ago when he'd moved in, how he had invited a few neighbors out for an evening… the ice prince had actually come to other individuals' surprise but Naruto soon found out why the raven-haired man probably kept to himself as most of the unmarried females, 'that one lady had been a lesbian it turned out so that explained why she hadn't…', threw themselves at him.

Sasuke had turned to the gin and tonics Naruto made sure the bartender kept supplying and it had all gone to heck from there. Cold had become moody, moody had become morose, morose had become angry and angry had led to he and Sasuke getting kicked out onto the street, a thrown punch and scuffle, a mistaken kiss and then rapid separation and declared hatred.

He should have taken the shot glass after Sasuke started telling him in the darkened booth about how he should look on the bright side of never having known his parents, 'what kind of life did you have to have had to consider that a _bright_ side?!', but he had been curious and drawn in by vulnerable dark onyx eyes and the slightly pouty pink lips when the man wasn't scowling…

"Ahh fuck." Naruto exclaimed loudly to no one as the wind flew by his window on the freeway.

He blamed Iruka and Kakashi. Since his dad had met that pervert back when he was in his early teens, everything had changed. Well, things had already started changing once his results in high school had gotten to the wrong sort but that was off-topic. Nope, it was them and their relationship.

He had nothing against their lifestyle. They loved each other, good for them. But he didn't want to accept he was – _couldn't be_ … it was only because he was so comfortable with them! Their situation had made him too…comfortable. That was it.

That was the only reason he had… after catching Sasuke's sloppy punch and wrenching his arm in a twist back into its socket… that was the only reason he had kissed him. And technically it was Sasuke's fault too!

 _He_ was going to let go after he'd had him trapped against his body. Naruto had realized how badly of a position they were in…pressed together, his nose down in Uchiha's neck in front of a nightclub – God, especially with that really nice cologne the bastard had been wearing… Naruto shifted in his seat scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably as he drove one-handed.

He had _moaned_. Sasuke had moaned and Hell, if he could have recorded it, turned it into a ringtone and sold it on Napster, Naruto would be rich. So he had nipped him on, well, the whim of his libido. It had said something about Sasuke's sexual preferences that the lightest of bites from Naruto's teeth made him suck in a gasp that practically screamed 'take me now please'. So he had spun him around…and that had led to a lick up his neck, a suckle on his jaw and a brief open-mouthed kiss.

Sasuke had _let_ him… for about half a minute. He had been pushed off, the most heated gaze ever to be shot from an Uchiha's eyes had been fired at him and then Sasuke had stomped off to a cab, never to have a civil conversation with him again.

Now he mostly acted like Naruto was the scum under his shoes from the metro. There were few, rare instances where Naruto felt like Sasuke – maybe, felt like him.

Wondering what could have been. That is, if they were gay. Which…they weren't. Well he wasn't.

Naruto pulled into the underground garage of WGB's building and parked his baby in the reserved spot for him. Three deep breaths, a slapped-on grin and the thoughts of his last half hour were pushed stubbornly from his mind.

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Hey, keep calm and click next chapter box!


	3. Chapter 3

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter Three

He didn't inspire the level of fear his brother did – Itachi could exit the elevators on his floor and by the time the man got to Sasuke's office, half the secretaries were huddled in nearby cubicles while interns mysteriously needed group bathroom breaks. His brother, who was the senior Vice President of Uchiha Corp regularly made it his business to drop by unexpectedly and scare the crap from his workers.

Sasuke was sure the main point of the exercise was to _annoy_ the crap out of _him_.

Under his wing, Sales and Marketing was the highest input to profit department, but for some reason Itachi felt the need to drop by and criticize his style while messing with the heads of his Sales team. Seriously, if Itachi ever bullied the damned accountants into a bad deal and then blamed it on him, Sasuke would punch him in the –

"Sasuke?" A knock on the door accompanied the question and Sasuke glared heatedly at the close door to his office before plastering on an acidic smile.

"Do come in Itachi." 'You will anyway.' The door opened and his strange older brother entered. He was wearing his business suit as always but allowed himself the loosened tie and scarlet shirt under the dark navy material. The hair he had never cut since they were young was in the customary neat, low ponytail. It did not swing as he walked.

'Probably uses a jar of hair gel every day. And people talk about me.' "How can I help you?"

His attitude changed from professional to asshole once the door was shut. "Dear little brother…seriously? I went to talk to Shisui, find out who we're buying out this week. Houton Manufacturing?" Rather than sitting on the lower chair across from Sasuke's behind the desk, he made himself comfortable on the wall-side couch, tossing the folder case in his hand down next to him.

Oh, the strength he got from the relaxation techniques he saw on television. 'Mental visualization…visualize…'

"They have a solid chain of factories across the nation and money problems we can take advantage of." Itachi rolled his eyes and Sasuke clenched his fists, picturing the green fields he was laying on turning into green jello. Mutant green jello. That knew and shared his thoughts, would rise up and smother his brother.

"Yes Sasuke. Let's buy a sinking ship. And because we are rich we will plug it with hundred dollar bills."

The mutant green jello had an AK now.

Itachi continued. "I'd like to suggest NuMe Designing Consultant Inc. and Shamrock Sales. I've got Shisui going over the numbers right now. We can under cut their stock, buy a bunch and take them over from the inside out."

The green jello shot itself in the head as Sasuke gaped. "You don't want to buy out a company with solid holds in thirty-four out of fifty states and a merely struggling profit line but you want to try to challenge two of the steadiest turners on the market today?!"

Itachi turned away with a put-upon sigh. "I have my sources. And my sources are always right."

Sasuke glared unabashedly now. Mostly because it was true. Itachi had only ever made a mistake once and it had luckily not been too costly. But when their dad had been in charge, Itachi had done no wrong – his business decisions were always on point. And Sasuke, who never risked anything, merely mediocre.

"I really don't know from what trash heap you get your information but I refuse – _refuse_ Itachi, to take on two of the _steadiest_ companies…!" Sasuke took a breath as the pitch of his voice started to rise to feminine notes. 'One, two, thee…' "You made this department mine. You're supposed to be upstairs enjoying your towering view over the city and occasionally calling me up to gripe over my reports. Not coming down here to micro-manage me and my team."

"I will when you're wrong. And that's final. You can do all three if you like but I expect to see that you have added NuMe and Shamrock to the portfolio." Itachi stood and smoothed down his jacket.

"I –" ' _Really_. Hate. You.' He should quit. Sometimes Sasuke really considered it. But he was so good at what he did. Lowering his eyes to his desk Sasuke glared at the grain until his eyes burned.

"If that's all, I will go speak with Shisui. Oh, I almost forgot." The folder was tossed onto his desk from the couch. "We've got that discussion with the radio station on today. WGB I think… would you mind meeting the man they're sending for lunch at The Caboose? Thanks."

By the time the door opened and shut Sasuke had spun his chair about to face the window and was hypothesizing about his chances and cause of death if he jumped.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I will update once at week, a minimum - if not twice. I am looking forward to feedback and thoughts. I am truly thankful for all of your support in the past and hope I still have a base in this fandom. Until next time guys!


	4. Chapter 4

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter Four

Naruto had taken the file his boss had handed him without looking doing his usual nod, smile and laugh routine. It was sad it worked for so many people to know nothing about him but to like him because he was just so damned 'likable'. Read that 'will do things for you, laugh at your sad jokes and be your gopher'.

So Naruto went on his free lunch meeting in a nice loaned jacket, entered Caboose with his briefcase in hand and decided to wait until his brand new business partner showed to pull out the file and be his charming and co-conspirator self to build trust. If he looked over the file _with_ the person, it felt less like a negotiation and more like a budding friendship.

Seriously. It worked. More times than Naruto could count.

Sipping on the complementary water, he leaned back slightly in his chair and looked around. Caboose at one in the afternoon was like a stomping ground for business people doing 'power lunches' and C-list rich and famous schmoozing with 'old friends'. His eyes scanned the room, caught everything and he was once again disappointed in the world.

His smile was still bright as the waiter came to refill his glass and Naruto said his thanks.

Ten minutes later he looked at his watch and was dubious. Was this person coming? Leaning over to pick up his briefcase, a pair of shoes walked into his line of sight and stopped next to his table.

"…you have got to be kidding me." Naruto looked up from halfway off his chair and couldn't help his smile freezing on his face. Sasuke Uchiha was the person he was meeting. _Sasuke_!

"Ah." Not one of his most eloquent moments. Straightening, briefcase in hand, Naruto stood and held out his hand, pure professionalism. "Mr. Uchiha."

His _neighbor_ , Sasuke was staring at him, eyes piercing and Naruto couldn't help thinking he had been judged and found lacking. Turning his palm to the side Naruto let out a soft laugh and withdrew it.

"This is unexpected. I didn't know Uchiha Corporation did business with WGB. I actually haven't looked at the file yet!" With another laugh Naruto sat back down. "Mr. Burton is, of course, sorry he couldn't come in person but he –"

"I can't work with you." Naruto looked up at Sasuke again and he hadn't moved. "I'm sorry but you grate on my nerves with your abrasive laugh, moronic jokes, overbearing personality and in general I can't _stand_ you."

"…" Naruto's smile stayed in place as he opened the briefcase on his lap and withdrew the file Mr. Burton had given him, placing it on the table gently. "Oh?"

Sasuke's hand came down with quiet power on the table next to his water glass and the man bent down closer to him, lowering his voice to a whisper. Naruto watched the water ripple as Sasuke's acidic voice hissed to him. "Look Uzumaki, I don't know why your boss sent a fucking sports reporter to have a business meeting with an actual family member of Uchiha Corporation, one of the most powerful companies in the world but apparently he takes our patronage as a joke!"

Naruto blinked at the profanity and his smile slid off. "I have an MBA and a Masters in Marketing from Brown's University Sasuke. As well as a Bachelor's in Psychology and a, now, defunct Masters in International Relations. Not that you'd care to know. I also have been twice approached to be Vice President of WGB by my boss' bosses." His voice went dangerously quiet as sapphire eyes flashed. "I've closed more deals for WGB than Burton could do in the past fifteen years in eleven months Uchiha… and I would appreciate it if you could give me the same respect I'm giving you at this moment."

Standing and pushing his chair back with a purposefully loud screech, Naruto hitched back on a friendly smile but his eyes threw fire. "You don't see me taking my bad day out on potential business partners do you?"

Sasuke's face was momentarily unguarded, surprise flaring in his eyes. Naruto snorted and was passing him to leave when Sasuke reached for his arm. Twisting it around Naruto ended up grabbing his wrist, bringing them into a close position standing next to each other. Using his body to block most of the room Naruto breathed out slowly.

"Don't grab me."

Sasuke's face was pink as he loosened his arm muscles and tried to pull away. "I…" His dark head dipped slightly and Naruto was treated to a close-up view of Sasuke's gel-free, gravity defying hair. Pushing aside the thought that it smelled clean and fresh, Naruto realized Sasuke was apologizing.

Releasing the warm wrist and rubbing the feeling of Sasuke's rabbiting pulse from his fingertips, Naruto likewise bowed slightly. "I'm familiar with martial arts. I get carried away when people grab me." Taking a step back and trying to ignore the awkward moment, Naruto gestured back to the table and toned down his attitude.

If Sasuke didn't appreciate his persona, he could change it.

Sasuke sat first before Naruto, pulling his chair in close. "I apologize for my behavior. I don't usually… even if my business partner turned out to be you…" Waving off the apology, Naruto sipped his water, pulling the previously discarded business file to himself.

Opening it and scanning quickly Naruto couldn't help a small, wry smile. "Uchiha Corp. wants to offer 'sponsorship' in return for unlimited marketing? For whatever you feel like, whenever?" He looked up to catch Sasuke staring at him.

"The terms are loose but I guess that is how it reads." Their gazes held for a minute before Naruto looked away.

"Oookay."

Sasuke linked his hands, propped by his elbows on the table, and rested his chin in the cradle. "We have money to throw at you."

Looking up Naruto resisted the urge to laugh. Uchiha wanted WGB to make a deal with the devil's spawn. "We aren't for hire." The corners of his lips curled upward. "Even if you are the richest company based in L.A."

Sasuke was staring at him. Even as he hummed speculatively and changed his position to sip water, Naruto could feel his eyes boring into him. Keeping his eyes stubbornly on his file, Naruto wondered whether Sasuke knew of the intimacy or impoliteness of a Japanese man doing that to another.

Of course he did.

Was he aware he was doing it? Maybe not.

"We can re-negotiate the terms. Of course we aren't going to agree to them as you have them here. Was this your idea?" Naruto stated bluntly, flipping through the proposed agreement. Sasuke reared back from the table, dark eyes wide.

"What?"

"Not everyone rolls over when an Uchiha says assume the position. I'm going to make sure WGB doesn't." Naruto snorted. "If you want unlimited advertising power with us, you need to add on a couple more zeroes. And even then I'd advise against it. We need a fixed proposal, with some form of regulation or guidelines and we can supposition monetary reimbursement from that."

Naruto crowed internally as Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I think you have enough zeroes already. You're a budding station…we're just taking advantage of your viewership's current interest. For all we know when the buzz over…a few individuals' presence wears off, WGB will be a useless resource."

It was Naruto's turn to lean over the table. "Come on now," a teasing smile slid onto his face. "If you and your marketing team really thought that the price wouldn't be so high right now. You want us while we're hot and you think we're getting hotter so you want first dibs."

"Did Brown teach you how to negotiate business deals too?" Naruto blinked as Sasuke sat up straight, face blank but a pink tinge climbed up his neck. Muffling a laugh behind a cough, Naruto grinned shrewdly.

"Yes. It was a dorm-room extra curricular activity." If Sasuke thought _this_ was flirting, he should see him with a gun. If the look on Sasuke's face was anything to go by, it was time to dial back the predatory. Though he _really_ wouldn't mind – if they were drunk again… not gay. _Not gay_. 'This was established _already_ today…'

"Here's a compromise. We live next door to each other. It's not like we can't work on this after hours… How about you draft a fresh deal, give me it to look over when you get a chance and if it needs tweaking again we can work on it together?" Naruto cut the smiles and grins and withdrew a business card from his briefcase. He scribbled quickly before giving it to Sasuke. "Home and cell numbers are on there."

There was a pause before Sasuke took the card, visibly hesitating before nodding firmly. "Fine. May I – may I ask though… if you could be higher in WGB, why…?" Naruto faltered in the act of closing up his case and restarted jerkily before standing.

"As Burton's gopher I get to do what I like, without the responsibility. My hours are flexible, I come and go as I please through our mutually symbiotic relationship… why rock a cruise liner?" Naruto re-adopted his persona smoothly and rubbed his hair, laughing pleasantly as Sasuke stood. "I'm lazy, what can I say?"

"Hn." With a last shallow bow, Sasuke exited ahead of him, leaving Naruto to make the leisurely walk back to work to get his car. On the way he pull out his cell phone, and made a call. He was going to relax tonight.

* * *

A/N: Hope you're enjoying! Leave a like(review) and subscribe to my alerts! XD

Another chapter around Sat/Sunday-ish.


	5. Chapter 5

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter Five

Naruto Uzumaki was an enigma. If there hadn't always been hints and glimpses ignored…a full business meeting with the man confirmed it.

And dare Sasuke admit he was interested and wanted to uncover more.

'Not _literally_ …uncover…' He reported back to Itachi the bare details of the meeting saying he would be continuing to liaison with the representative from WGB but left early without much ado for his afternoon exercise.

As soon as he got home he was in shorts and a wife-beater and running laps around the neighborhood. While his feet moved automatically, his mind was in turmoil.

Uzumaki had been flirting with him. That realization came first and foremost, closely followed by the surprise of his vast education, 'It would be stupid of Uzumaki to lie as that could be easily checked', rounded up by the lure of a hidden personality under that loud exterior.

But mostly the flirting. Then again…there was their history.

The pounding of his feet accompanied the pants of controlled breathing as he rounded his twelve block perimeter back towards home. He couldn't help replaying in his mind… his behavior had been abominable, of course. But on seeing the blonde head of hair that could only belong to one person, Sasuke had lost it – the proverbial straw on the camel's back.

What he hadn't expected was that the eyes that had shuttered before his outburst, would go ice cold and Naruto's sun-bright smile disappear behind a demeanor that cried 'danger' during his revelation. And certainly not the man-handling. He remembered the previous incident _still_ too clearly…

Sasuke slowed to a halt and rested against a tree, panting harshly and feeling overheated. 'Damn Naruto Uzumaki! Wasn't it enough he wrecked the quiet neighborhood?!' He had added Sasuke's equilibrium to his path of destruction.

Sasuke wasn't a fool. He had long accepted that he was gay. He could admit the attraction even… but _how_ he wished he was attracted to anyone but Naruto Uzumaki. Even his main stalker Sakura Lee wouldn't be as bad as this – in theory.

The rest of the way home was a slow jog trying not to remember his past history with the blonde and teasing imaginings of getting himself drunk and wandering next door. Was Naruto noble? Or would he take advantage of Sasuke's vulnerable state and show more of the dark side of his nature… and Sasuke knew it was there. It was there in the husky rawness of his voice as he had told Sasuke not to grab him…

"What has you so deep in thought you're walking right by your house?" An amused voice chimed and Sasuke looked up, startled to find the closest person he could call to a best friend there. He hadn't seen the brunette in a while and it almost brought a smile to his face.

"Neji." He looked around as if waking and his eyes paused over Naruto's empty driveway. He had walked all this way in thought…?

Shaking his head Sasuke looked at his friend. Looking smart as always, Neji was lounging on the side of his sparkling silver Audi coupe in one of his numerous business suits. As a corporate lawyer, not to mention an heir to the Hyuuga line, he could afford it all.

"Were we on for something? I'm sorry I haven't even checked my schedule for tonight…" Sasuke walked toward his front door and Neji followed him inside with a light chuckle.

"I don't know what is sadder, you actually have a schedule for your evenings or how out of it you seem. Bad day compliments of your brother?" Neji removed his shoes and socks at the door and padded over the hardwood to the kitchen area where Sasuke was chugging water.

"Yes." That was easier than explaining. Neji was used to his private feelings about his and his brother's relationship. Not to mention how it influenced work. "He stopped by to micro-manage some more."

Neji's sharp eyes watched him recap his drink and set it down before he spoke again, smirking. "Hmm, there's more. This isn't Itachi-sulking this is… distracted sulking." He wasn't above glaring childishly and Sasuke did as Neji continued, setting himself down to the counter barstool.

"I'd offer to take you out for drinks but…" As his best friend obviously Neji knew. The embarrassment had been in how they had first met – Sasuke drunk and flirting with the pale lavender-eyed brunette. To his shame, getting clocked by Neji's then girlfriend – now wife, Ten-Ten, a hot-tempered Chinese.

His 'up yours' was returned with a 'no, no, up _yours_ ' to which he scowled darkly. Perhaps that was the problem.

"Oh?" Neji was, dear God, grinning. Had he said that out _loud_?! "Still insisting you hate that neighbor of yours?"

"God, kill me now." Sasuke sat and let his forehead hit soundly against the marble top.

"No, no…let's talk about this…" Neji adopted his poker-face. "Speak."

Sasuke looked at his friend and threw dignity to the wind. "I have once again humiliated myself in front of him. I had a business meeting today after my chat with my brother…" Sasuke scowled, brows drawn. "It turns out that he," Throwing a hand dramatically toward his front door, to gesture implicitly to his neighbor. "Works for WGB as more than just a sports caster – and was my business partner! So I snapped."

Neji blinked, stunned into silence. "So…?"

"I behaved like an ass, refused the meeting…tried to embarrass him…" Sasuke looked away and paused to drink more water, thoughtfully. "It backfired. He behaved like the professional and _I_ left feeling like an ass."

Neji couldn't help a smirk as Sasuke stood to stalk to his fridge, putting his water away and grabbing ingredients for a sandwich. "So the dumb blonde is actually capable…?" At Sasuke's silence Neji continued. "I'm assuming you salvaged the deal and that's why you're choking on that crow you're swallowing."

The sharp cutting glance only made his friend chuckle, swiveling to keep him in sight.

Sasuke did not like being wrong-footed, especially by someone he thought he understood. But even more so than being left off-balance, he hated the twisting confusion that accompanied any thought of his annoyingly _overbearing_ neighbor.

Neji was still watching him silently as he prepped what would likely be the closest thing to dinner tonight and Sasuke wondered how much easier his life would be if Neji had just been gay. They understood each other - this, was easy. He knew Neji, Neji knew him, there weren't mixed signals and misunderstandings and assumptions…

He hated how aware he was of Naruto as well! Really, did he have to be _so_ …overwehelmingly, _ugh_.

"There's just something about him - I don't know how to explain it Neji but it's like he's hiding..." Sasuke's brows furrowed in a deep frown as he made his sandwich and pondered aloud. "I mean, from what I learned today he is actually intelligent! And he acts like an ass to...to, stop people from seeing that is has a brain!"

"Kind of like you act like a glacier so people don't realize you're a human being?" Despite the dark scowl he shot at his friend, the comparison fit. It was better to be untouchable...aloof. He had been...foolish in the past.

"Don't you have a wife to be getting home to?" Sasuke pouted, half acidic, half jealous as he slapped together ingredients and shifted the plate of cold ham and veggies in bread to sit next to Neji. His friend simply smiled at his behaviour and undid his tie, relaxing bonelessly into a slouch against his counter. In his mind he once again lamented the sexual preference Fate lottery.

"She's been busy for weeks making sure the design firm is all sorted so when she leaves next month for her cousin's wedding in China they will keep the ship afloat without her. It means many late nights working the next two weeks. She won't be home until closer to ten. So - you get me."

"Joy." Sasuke deadpanned but rolled his eyes.

"So do you want to tell me in more detail...?" Neji inquired and Sasuke, with a sigh recounted his afternoon fully. From his impolite outburst to the reveal of MBA et al to even the uncomfortable resolution - telling that part had made Sasuke highly uncomfortable - to the arrangement they had settled upon.

Neji was staring by the time he went silent. "So...he gave you his card...and all his numbers?"

"Yup." Sasuke was fully unwound now and deep into reflection. "I have to restructure our proposal to WGB...probably in its entirety now I know what I'm dealing with..." Neji couldn't help a smile at the hidden admission that the Uchiha had no problem hoodwinking idiots.

"So when are you going to call him then?"

Shrugging Sasuke slid off the stool and sniffed delicately at himself with a frown. "Weekend maybe. I think I need a couple of days to look it over ful-"

"No I asked when you're going to call him." At Sasuke's incomprehension Neji tried a coaxingly leading tone. "He gave you his cell number AND his home number - on a card that already has his work number..." Sasuke blinked vacantly and Neji almost sighed audibly. "He's given you all the cues to contact him outside of work Sasuke..."

"Oh..." Sasuke seemed to have frozen in the middle of his own foyer, apparently having deleted the fact he was going to take a shower from his brain. "Do you think...? I mean maybe he was just giving me those so we could talk about the proposal after business hours. I mean he did say we live, right across the street from each other so we could do this much faster through those channels. I didn't think - I _don't_ think he meant...to use them 'outside of business'." And yet his friend was still standing wide eyed, practically talking to himself...

Oh, he had it bad.

"Well," He passed Sasuke and slapped his shoulder as hard as he could, stunning his friend into movement. "You won't know until you ask. Why not have him go over it properly with you to indicate what he has issue with? I mean once you fix it up enough to not be insulting to someone with actual intelligence now you know he has a brain." Sasuke spluttered at him as Neji pulled his socks on as gracefully as he could balancing on one foot.

"That is an absolutely juvenile reason to call him over...!" Sasuke's cheeks were pink and he pretended not to notice as he bent for his shoes.

"Is it?" Neji hummed and slipped into his shoes. "I always say if it isn't broke abuse it through rinse and repeat. If it works for pre-teen girls...oh look at the time! My wife will miss me..." Laughing at his friend oscillating between embarrassment and indignation, Neji opened the door and edged out, intending to pull it behind him. "But seriously though, call him. You can't know if you don't try."

Sasuke was still blinking indecisively at his closed front door while Neji was backing out of his drive.

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A/N: I have to give a shout-out now to Murky Heron! My true blue dedicated reader who reminded me I owe you guys a post. Sorry I'm a tad late but I promise the next by Sat/Sunday! I'm writing and on track!

Reviews are love! (Still need a beta!)


	6. Chapter 6

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter Six

The pounding music and epileptic fit inducing strobe lights were exactly what he needed, Naruto decided as he jumped and shouted in the pulsing, moving mass of human bodies shifting him like the tides of the sea.

He couldn't think here, could only feel. He was only two drinks in and he felt awesome.

"KIBA YOU ARE A DOG! LIKE ANUBIS!" His brunette friend was shaking his head at him, cupping a hand around his ear. Naruto laughed loudly and grinned back giving him a thumbs up. Three feet away and couldn't hear a thing. Awesome.

Jesus he was hot! He had found this redhead chick about a half hour earlier who didn't seem to want to let him go so he had been dancing with her since but her long hair was heating his chest from her being pressed, practically spooned to him in this mosh of people. Her bad if she minded sweat - but he needed a drink.

"BE, RIGHT, BACK." He shouted clearly, squeezing his hand around her arm until she turned her head to look up dazedly back at him. Oh...crap. His skin chilled over suddenly under the sweat dampened silk shirt as he realized she was drugged.

It was probably the one thing he hated about the club scene in L.A, the druggers. They roofied people who were careless, hell those who weren't. He had gotten "stung" once while dancing at a club and had immediately begged off for home to deal with what he assumed was an attempted drugging - which it did turn out to be.

In scenes like this it was easy to have those things happen... and here he was stuck with a chick who probably could hardly move that just his luck had gravitated to him...and now he was in charge of her safety.

He was by default - he could almost guarantee if he left her here, her drugger would come to claim his prize and if there was one thing Naruto couldn't do...it was that.

"COME!" He shouted again, pulling her gently through the crowd with him, cringing when she almost stumbled and finally made it with him to the edge of the dance floor only to slur out a mumbled "Wha?"

"WATER MAN! Like...THREE GLASSES!" Naruto shouted it at the bartender, pushing aside the persons who were there previously, ignoring their complaints. He could make himself prominent when he wanted to...and this was one time it worked for him as the three plastic cups of ice water came quickly. He put one into the girl's hand and told her to drink firmly, gripping the other two by the rim and holding onto her free hand as he tried to maneuver them to a less crowded area.

"Hey...you." She seemed to realized who she was with for a moment as her brown eyes sparkled up at him before she faded out again.

"Keep drinking!" He was trying to figure out who had changed around them while they were dancing while examining the exposed skin of her body for marks. If they had punctured or scratched her somewhere visible maybe he could correlate it to the people around them...plus the drugger would have had to stay close to know when he could proceed to extract her from him...

His phone pulsed in his pocket and Naruto ignored it, still looking over the helpless girl. He finally found a red, inflamed scrap along her forearm that looked like a needle had made it. But for the life of him, despite trying he could not think of who at that angle would have been the one...

"Yur...sh'king." The unnamed redhead murmured before she stumbled to the side and holding onto his arm, vomited her stomach full of water and alcohol back out. Naruto grimaced but held onto her, holding her hair back. Well - fuck. All this drama was definitely working for keeping his mind off Sasuke. But then that thought...made him remember he was trying to avoid thinking about Sasuke. With a groan, Naruto pulled his once again vibrating phone out of his pocket to squint at the brightly-lit number in the semi-dark. The ringer had stopped and the screen faded dark but he didn't recognise it.

"Grrl-freay?" Naruto caught his wobbly charge and set her upright against the wall, hoping someone from the club would help with the wet floor issue. He pushed his phone back into his pocket and vowed to check it later.

"No, not a girlfriend." He assumed that was what she had asked. It was the closest thing he could think to her slurred sounds.

"Sssoooo...nmmumbbb." And she swayed forward back into him.

"Whoa, whooa." Catching her by the upper arms, Naruto found himself with a mewling mass of female trying to wrap herself around him and ugh, no, vomit breath. "Hey, baby..."

"Gud. Yur...nice and gud." The blonde let out an undignified yelp as he was summarily groped and fondled by the girl turned drugged octopus.

"Ah! Yeah - no! Not the...Nnngh!" Hey! Who the hell was the victim here! "You're...kinda squeezing my dick, there." Naruto hissed out through his teeth, trying to release her unmeant death grip on his junk - which thankfully fled as she had to let go of him to turn and retch again.

Naruto ended up spending his night caring for her, once he got his friend's attention - with help. By the time they left the club the girl was semi-lucid and with a sickly smile, Taluya or Tayuya, he didn't quite catch her name - was in a cab on her way home after having promised to call Kiba and let him know she was safe. The entire ride home Kiba was shouting at him - half deaf from the music, about how he was a hero and a knight in silky armor.

Naruto laughed along, rolling his eyes, mostly disappointed the night had gone the way it had. He probably could scratch that club off the list of the ones he visited now and it seemed more and more this drugger culture was sneaking into LA. He didn't remember to check his phone until after he had gotten home and showered and by then it was 3 am - almost early for a club night, and he wouldn't call back the mystery number.

Later in the morning when he tried before he left for work, it just rang and rang.

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A/N: Hiiiii! *thumbs up* We're on track!


	7. Chapter 7

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter Seven

He would kill Neji the next time he saw him, Sasuke decided. It was only fitting after the flaming embarrassment.

He didn't call again.

It took him three days before he was even able to look at Itachi's stupid WGB proposal properly, time torn between pushing his own interest in the takeover of Houton Manufacturing and researching more deeply into NuMe Designing Consultant Inc. and Shamrock Sales. Sasuke never knew how his brother came by his information...but once again it was golden.

By the time he got home on Thursday afternoon, the three rough proposals were done and ready to be passed onto Itachi's underling Shisui. The proposed projections for Houton - that he had felt were such a steal, looked paltry now next to the truths of Itachi's finds. He had been hopeful this one time...

Now he had a day and one night to try to create something he could run past Itachi before showing it to Naruto... Sitting on the ground next to his low coffee table, Sasuke flushed and glared murderously at his carpet. He could always skip murder and wreck his car or something likewise precious to Neji.

With a granola packet and water bottle next to him, Sasuke settled in to work, dissecting the WGB proposal to the station by what Uchiha really wanted from them and what it cost in the real world. Future projections aside for now, they wanted exclusive use of WGB as their on-air marketers and virtually unlimited access.

They would not get that without buying the station, Sasuke could admit. Currently as it stood however thanks to certain...parties, and their wildly successful sports center segment, WGB was pulling in the listeners at unrivaled numbers by other stations. And Uzumaki seemed comfortable right where he was - if he wasn't leaving and nothing changed...

Scratching out areas as he thought and schemed, Sasuke did have to snort at how skewed the proposal was. Itachi was a piece of work. Oh sure, the number offered seemed high on paper if you just looked at it but Uzumaki was - unfortunately, probably right about there needing to be more zeroes. The listenership, advertising, promotion and revenue the station would be giving up to cater to Uchiha Inc. alone as their business market...? They may be a conglomerate company but even all their subsets and branch companies wouldn't fill the void. They would perhaps have to edit what they were asking for to more reasonable goals. Like, shutting out direct competitors, rather than the entire field.

The light in his living room burned through until the early hours of the morning and when Sasuke finally gave up and removed the slim, small reading glasses he was loathe to use but had to if he wanted to preserve his vision, it was nearly three am. He was surrounded with sticky notes, loose leafs of scribbles and notes and the butchered version of the proposal Uzumaki had seen...but he was done. He started to gather everything up, into small neat piles. It had actually become relatively easy once he had figured out how to sort everything Itachi wanted versus what he believed he could get from Narut-WGB, at the price they were offering.

Standing for a full body stretch and toes curling with tingling pleasure at blood returning to extremities after the long period of immobility, Sasuke was just fighting a yawn and planning to just turn off the light and pad off to bed when his cellphone started to chime.

Looking at the phone shaking on the coffee table in muddled confusion, he picked it up and answered without thinking.

"Hullo?" What, bloody time was it again? He rubbed his eyes and blinked, looking around his living room.

"Hi! Someone called me from this number...?" Sasuke had frozen, numb from shock after the first cheerfully exclaimed word. "Sorry if I'm calling late - I, was called late and I thought maybe I'd have a better chance reaching you now than earlier in the morning...well, I already tried earlier in the morning and no one answered so..." Naruto was rambling on now, apparently not needing input from the secondary party that Sasuke _was_ currently unwilling to give. "...uh, hello? Hell-llooo?"

He could hang up, Sasuke thought quickly, or say wrong number and hang up, if he didn't want to be rude. Except that Naruto would have his cell number now and if he had to contact Naruto during their negotiations on the WGB business deal, there was no way he would not notice that Sasuke's number was the same number of _this_ incident. The pause was lengthening...

"Uzumaki - it's late. This is Sasuke. Just -" He was dead-on-his-feet tired and Sasuke couldn't handle this now. "I'm sorry I'll call you back tomorrow about the proposal. I need to sleep."

There was the slightest of inhales in his ear. "Oh. Oh-kay. Right. Sure." A short pause and then a cheerful laugh. "Ah, my bad Sasuke. Sorry, I'll just save the number and let you, go, then." He made a grunt of some sort into the phone and hung up, throwing it onto his couch and leaving it there as he stumbled off to bed. Fuck Naruto Uzumaki.

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A/N: Heya...is ah, anybody reading this? Because I'm just...yeah. *crickets*


	8. Chapter 8

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter Eight

So maybe Sasuke had not been exaggerating so very much when he accused him of being out every night. But both he and Kiba were unattached bachelors who enjoyed nights of fun, over-excessive drinking and dancing and were loud and needed loud clubs and parties to merge into...

Which was why Kiba was dropping him off, half buzzed at two something in the morning. Naruto slung an arm over his shoulder and grinned exuberantly as Kiba recounted an incident he had apparently been apart of at one of their previous club visits - he didn't even remember it happening! - and it triggered the memory of last night.

He wondered if that girl was okay, if she had remembered everything that had happened to her. Not necessarily that he wanted her to remember him because it was always best when people didn't but more so she wouldn't have been confused and scared this morning. Well at least she would have gotten home safely. Kiba had made sure of it and if she couldn't remember prior to them putting her in the cab and didn't trust in the inherent goodness of people, well...that's what doctors were for.

It made him frown to think of the persons going around drugging people again and Kiba nudged him in the side before depositing him none too gently onto his front room couch.

"Yo, it's almost three. I'm heading home. You good?" Raising one arm slowly, Naruto gave Kiba the thumbs up, mind admittedly moving a tad slowly. He needed to lay off the alcohol a bit.

After looking him over with some sort of cross-eyed inspection Kiba gave a nod before deciding it was okay to leave him and exited his house. He had always told his friend he could crash with him until morning but Kiba hardly did. Naruto didn't know why, he had like a huge Queen sized bed not to mention the couch that saw more action, 'sleep action unfortunately', than said bed... but Kiba somehow still never got as wasted as he did. He wouldn't let his friend drive them otherwise if he didn't know he was capable.

Making himself comfortable with the minimum of movement , Naruto tilted his head to look out the front window of the house that pointed across the street. He had to shift until his neck was over the arm of the sofa...but yup, Sasuke's light was on.

He wondered what Sasuke was doing. He was never out, didn't seem to party. The only things he did were work and run. God, he did like watching Sasuke run...

Naruto groaned, letting his head loll to the other side. He should get some sleep. There was a football game tomorrow at UCLA that he was supposed to be covering live in the evening so he didn't have to worry about the usual early work day tomorrow. Maybe Sasuke had the day off too and that's why he was up late...

And even with his mind half-addled from alcohol his brain wouldn't turn off and Naruto grunted in frustration - thinking, thinking constantly, always! Argh! He didn't want to think about casting or WGB administration or _Sasuke_!

It occurred to him then he should have just gotten blind passed out drunk but the throwaway thought clashed with the belief that he shouldn't become an alcoholic.

On a whim he maneuvered his phone from his pocket and re-dialled the number that had called him from the club days ago. More than likely it was some random wrong number who would curse him for waking them at three am and he could curse at them back or flirt if they sounded cute...or curse them _then_ flirt. Heh, an uncomplicated social interaction with a soul he'd never meet...

Naruto was grinning by the third ring and tensed in anticipation when he heard the click of the call being answered.

A male's sleep husky voice murmured a low 'hullo' in his ear and Naruto paused for, just a beat, before launching into what could be the most epic phone sex pick-up of all time. It was a passing thought, just a laugh...if it worked it would be epic that was all...

"Hi! Someone called me from this number. Sorry if I'm calling late -" 'No I'm not, your voice sounds delicious.' "I, was called late and I thought maybe I'd have a better chance reaching you now than earlier in the morning...well, I already tried earlier in the morning and no one answered so..." Naruto smirked and gave his best coaxing tone to the implication that he had had no choice but to try now. This was make or break - he'd either be slewed with profanity or that deep bass tone would forgive him and try to disengage at which point he could throw in a flirtatious pass. Oh yeah, he could definitely say something about this guy's voice... "...uh, hello? Hell-llooo?" Except the guy had stopped talking. What the hell?

The lack of response seemed like it was going to never end until finally the guy spoke up.

"Uzumaki - it's late. This is Sasuke. Just," OH SHIT. "I'm sorry I'll call you back tomorrow about the proposal. I need to sleep." OH FUCK. Naruto shot upright on the sofa, head suddenly pounding in tempo with his heart.

"Oh. Oh-kay. Right. Sure." Naruto almost panicked before pulling up his biggest and fakest laugh. "Ah, my bad Sasuke. Sorry, I'll just save the number and let you, go, then." Sasuke fucking Uchiha then groaned into his ear before hanging up. SHIT, FUCK.

Feeling like a newborn colt, stumbling to his feet, Naruto stood to face the window he had been peeping-tom-ing through and within moments the lights were off next door. Jesus...he had called Sasuke! No, there was not enough alcohol... Naruto groaned loudly and stumbled himself off to bed, purposefully ignorant, pointedly ignoring the ache of his stiffening erection.

* * *

A/N: *hears a chirp back* XD

I'm thinking Thursday. I mean it, Thursday.


	9. Chapter 9

Life Of A Secret Agent

Chapter Nine

"And that was our discussion with the star, Timothy Green of UCLA Bluebirds, winners of this afternoon's game. Kin, what do you think of their scoreline tonight?"

"I have got to say Uzumaki! You were right...the Kingfishers were soundly beaten tonight..."

Why was he listening to this again? Right, for work. He was trying to gauge their advertising earnings and get an idea of the WGB market worth. Of course there were other ways of getting those numbers than actually listening to a cast...

He had used today, with the proposals done and the revised copy of the WGB plan sent to Itachi and offhandedly approved, to actually look into Uzumaki. From his education to what he currently offered at WGB and to Sasuke nothing added up.

Background and childhood Sasuke already knew from when he had had Naruto checked when he moved in. He did it to all his new neighbours and had done it to the residents before he himself moved here. The precaution was not unnecessary. So he knew already about the adoption, the fact Naruto had two fathers after his dad had been civil-married to a guy he met teaching. Knew about the childhood and teen disciplinary issues... what he hadn't known about were the excellent SAT and ACT scores and the moving he had done in his teens and early adulthood. He had gotten into Wharton! For some reason he had left Pennsylvania during his second year though and moved to Boston, then Rhode Island before settling and continuing his degrees.

Speaking of which all were true and verified; Psychology Bachelor's with Honors. MBA with Distinction. Why the fuck was Naruto a sports caster? He had held scores that could have gotten him into Yale with a breath to inquire, Harvard if he had pushed himself a bit harder. Wharton and Brown were nothing to sneeze at either...

Yet he was happy to be a desk jockey when he wasn't being recorded talking to people at long boring sports games or doing his boss' Tim Burton's work as apparently he seemed to have taken that upon himself as well. A few casual inquiries and less subtle demands had uncovered the truth of WGB. Naruto had that station by the gonads. Apart from the fact he was the main reason they were the most popular right now, he was Burton's Shadow King. The Board of Directors and the owner had all wanted him as Vice President to the station but he had declined! For some reason they still loved him though and half the crew worshipped him, if Sasuke's intel into one intern's very private dismissal from the station was true.

Sasuke looked into that matter and she really had apparently tried to drug Uzumaki at an after-work function, which, wow. None of his stalkers had ever gone _that_ far!

"...wraps up until coverage of the weekly round-up tomorrow afternoon! Back to you in the tower Cho." Uzumaki's segment was done and Sasuke unconsciously switched back to his running music without pause, brain still furiously churning over information.

So if Naruto was the mastermind over there, Sasuke had to get into his proposal for WGB was fair, balanced, perfect even - but how to prevent Uzumaki taking advantage when he realized how badly the Uchiha wanted in on WGB's stardom to further their own? The partnership could be more than mutually benefitial...

Sasuke finished up his exercise regiment and returned home, showered, ate a light dinner and channel surfed for an hour before looking out the front door. The Mustang still missing, Uzumaki wasn't home. He could have gone out to a club again tonight - after all it was Friday, but usually his loud friend in the orange F150 drove him around when they went partying. Sasuke remembered at first, after he moved in, when he saw that truck almost every night how he had assumed Naruto was probably bi if not gay...but his friend never stayed the night and there were no other guys.

Sasuke actually had a weekend he could look forward to, without work to go over, only prep for next week actually and here he was, worried about Uzumaki. Sasuke tried to justify to himself that Naruto was most likely partying somewhere after the game or...or fucking some college chick who would drool over nailing a radio celebrity idol. Sasuke pulled out his cell in the darkened gloom of his living room, without the tv glare and stared at the phone.

So what if he called and interrupted something? Pfft, nothing new. He had done _that_ already. If Naruto was a gentleman he'd just ignore the call and let his messages get it. So he just needed Uzumaki to answer so he'd know he was fine. A teenaged girl had tried to rape him already, it could happen again... a peek at the time revealed it was quarter to eleven, not _too_ late to call if he decided to beg out it was about the proposal...

Sasuke dialed and listened to the rings, counting them off. He felt tensed and stood to pace before flopping back down suddenly. What was he doing? Shit. The phone rang off the same moment Sasuke decided to hang up and he puffed out a breath of relief, tension uncoiling. No seriously, he was a grown ass man. Naruto could take care of himself. It wasn't like it was Sasuke's job to wonder where he was at eleven o clock on a Friday night anyway!

Sasuke gave himself the night off and did his abolutions before turning in. It was a long while before sleep claimed him however.

* * *

A/N: I just want to say thanks to my regular readers! I know you're out there now! I hope you guys are still enjoying. Sorry I'm still a day late on my promised Thursday BUT! (And this is the good part!) I've been writing so hard you can get something Sunday for sure!

PS: I have a beta now! From next chapter hopefully guys XD


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